Of Sharks and Caramel
by SurfingSunsets
Summary: Kisame X OC. Kisame has reoccurring dreams that he tries to ignore. But what happens when he meets a woman who challenges his worldviews? Rated for language and LEMON in later chapters. If you don't like it don't click it!
1. First Dreams

**Author's Note:** Hey, finally decided to start a new story. This time I have no idea how long it will be, hoping that it will be the longest story I've written ever. Anyway I hope you enjoy it, it's another one of those ideas that came into my head. If I stole any ideas from someone else, from the deepest depths of my heart I apologize. The typical "I don't own Naruto characters" applies here.

**Of Sharks and** **Caramel**

First Dreams

The full moon shone imperiously over a small village dulled and muddled by the darkness of night. A black cloud passed overhead hiding the moon and cloaking everything in complete darkness. As the cloud continued its travel the moon was slowly revealed. The once silver moon had turned an ominous blood orange. The moon's newly revealed rays crept upon its surroundings.

As this new shade engulfed the village, it suddenly erupted with activity. In a flash, flames enveloped the entire scene, the sounds of screams and crying drowned out all other sounds. A smell of wood smoke, sea air, and the metallic tang of blood was overwhelming.

An overall sense of panic could be felt, with an undertone of malicious glee, the feeling increased as the scene further resembled the depths of hell. As suddenly as the madness started, it went dark, and silence reigned. Even the darkness began to fade; the only thing left to be seen was the soft glow of a pair of caramel colored orbs.

xXxXxXxXx

Kisame rolled onto his back, stretched his long arms over his head and yawned. He lay still for a minute with his eyes closed thinking about his dream. This was the third night that he had dreamed of the small burning village and it always ended the same: a pair of caramel eyes glowing through the fading darkness.

The ninja let out a soft sigh and slightly shook his head. There was no use in dwelling upon a dream; he had better things to do with his time. He stretched once more, letting the rising sun soak heat into his joints before getting up and heading to the river to wash the sleep from his face.

The blue-skinned ninja then turned to face camp. In the copse of trees it was sheltered under, Kisame noticed that his partner, Itachi, had woken up as well. He smirked and walked back to prepare his things to leave. He swung Samehada to its spot on his back, rolling his shoulders to adjust its position. Finally, he retrieved an energy bar from his pack and munched on it while waiting patiently for his teammate.

A few minutes later, the stoic Uchiha was prepared to leave with his pack on his back and burlap bag in his hand. He tossed the bag to Kisame, who caught it with ease, and told him, "Leader-sama is expecting us soon. He has another mission for us."

He waited half a breath and then said, "Kakazu is also waiting to collect the reward from the daimyo assignation."

Kisame chuckled as he shook the bag, "Guess we better get moving then before the old miser loses his head too, eh?"

"Hn," was the Uchiha's only reply before he jumped into the trees to head back to base. A moment later a still chuckling Kisame followed, the dream of last night completely forgotten as he headed back towards base.

xXxXxXxXx

It was early evening when the duo got back to base. Kisame loudly shut the door to further announce their presence to the others and walked with Itachi to the meeting room. Samehada twitched on Kisame's back as it sensed the other members' familiar chakra. Kisame patted the bandaged blade good naturedly as he walked through the door.

The room was like any typical conference room. The large room was painted black with a few dark sconces along the walls to light it. A long mahogany table filled up the middle of the room and was lined up with enough chairs to seat all the members of the organization. The room was dark and elegant, like any respectable crime organization should.

Kisame tossed the burlap bag so it slid across the table to stop neatly in front of Kakazu. The stitched ninja nodded appreciatively and Kisame took his seat. At the head of the table, Pein waited for everyone to settle before he addressed them.

"It seems you all have succeeded in your missions. Good. It's encouraging to know that my minions are not total imbeciles."

He turned to Hidan, "Although I still have my doubts about you."

"You fuc..mmph!" Hidan started to shout before Kakazu silenced him by wrapping one of his strings around his head covering his mouth. Kakazu gave Pein an exasperated look as the Jashinist finally calmed down.

Pein smirked and continued asking for each team to further report about how their missions went. Everything went without a hitch it seemed except for a few instances where Kakazu or Deidara attempted to kill their partners, but that was relatively normal.

"Well as much as I missed you all, you have new missions," said Pein sarcastically as he motioned to Konan and she started passing down each member's new assignment file.

"Yay! Tobi gets another mission with Deidara-senpai!" Tobi giggled and tried to hug the now face-palming bomber.

"Get off me you masked freak, un!"

As the bomber struggled to get Tobi under control Kisame opened and read his file.

He and Itachi were going to the farthest end of the Land of Rivers. There was a small village there by the sea that was rumored to have a scroll that contained valuable information about some of the hidden villages. It was approximately two days travel from the base and seemed to be an easy enough mission. The file claimed the small village was only inhabited by civilians. If that was true, Kisame wondered why both he and Itachi needed to be there. He thought about asking Pein about it, but thought better of it. The man had his reasons and if he thought that they both needed to work this mission then that meant he needed to be more cautious of the seemingly harmless village. For now the blue ninja's only explanation was that Pein wanted to make sure Itachi's brother didn't somehow interfere. Even though the younger Uchiha was still busy with Orochimaru, that boy still had a knack for sticking his nose where it didn't belong.

Itachi glanced from across the table to Kisame. He replied with a nod knowing the expressionless ninja was thinking along the same lines.

Pein looked around the table at his menagerie of criminals, "I expect you all to be gone by morning. If there are no questions, you are dismissed." He paused for a moment before getting up. He glanced at Konan and left through the nearest door and Konan followed shortly after.

The rest of the Akatsuki parted ways to go about their business. Kisame stood by the door he came in through and looked at his partner who was still seated.

The shark ninja grinned, "Leader-sama seemed to be in a good mood. I knew he'd loosen up a bit when Konan finally got his hands on him."

"Hn," Itachi got up and passed Kisame, heading for what he guessed was to his room.

Kisame called after him, "Hey since it doesn't seem like a rushed mission, maybe we could hit a hot spring on the way there huh?" 'I know you could sure use a piece of ass' he thought to himself with a smirk.

Silence was his only answer, so he took that as a positive sign and headed down the other hallway. He stopped at the end and proceeded up the stairs. As he climbed up the stairs he remembered the first day he moved into the base. The building was a maze of hallways and doors, all of which looked alike. He admired the way it would trap anyone foolish enough to try to break in, but once he was shown to his room he had no idea how to find his way to anywhere else. It got to the point that even his laid back nature became frustrated, and he finally just summoned a couple of his sharks to scout the place for him. He knew the place like the back of his hand now.

He opened the door to enter his room and felt his shoulders relax a bit. He shrugged Samehada off his broad shoulders and set it against his bedside table. Kisame then shed himself of his Akatsuki cloak and tossed it on the bed. He began walking to his bathroom, ridding himself of his other clothes on the way there.

The man stood in front of the mirror and stared at his appearance as he ruffled his hair. Kisame grinned his signature sharky grin. A range of emotions ran through him. He liked his appearance but knew all too well how other people perceived it. He was a tall muscular guy in his late twenties, what any woman would swoon over. Although his blue tinged skin, razor sharp teeth, and eyes of a predator made his looks more…exotic. It took a special kind of woman, or a well paid one, to not be frightened by his appearance and he sometimes though Itachi's looks didn't help his luck with the ladies either. Sighing, he ran his hand through his navy blue locks once more before stepping into the shower.

The running water eased his mind, water always calmed him down. It didn't matter if it was fresh or saltwater, cold or hot. He even loved rain, it wasn't quite the same but the pitter-patter it made as it came in contact with the earth could set him at ease. The idea that he would be heading towards the ocean tomorrow on a mission lightened his heart all the more.

Kisame took his time, letting his body enjoy the warmth and letting his mind wander. He closed his eyes and thought back to his dream from that morning. He had recurring dreams before but that was over a span of months, not in a row like these. He'd also experienced nightmares when he was younger, but that was a post-traumatic thing.

This was different. He didn't recognize the village and he didn't understand why he would see eyes before he woke. The only thing about the dream that he did understand was the red haze. It was the same haze he got when he was in a fit of bloodlust. Occasionally it would start just like his dream, the color starting from whatever he was looking at and creeping to the rest of his surroundings. When it filled his entire vision, he sometimes went on a murder spree that he couldn't remember afterwards.

Fortunately that hadn't happened in years. The first time he had the dream, he had to check with Itachi to make sure he hadn't done anything he shouldn't have. The Uchiha had assured him that he hadn't moved since he fell asleep, but Kisame did get a strange look in return for his questioning.

Kisame turned off the shower and grabbed a towel from the shelf. While drying himself off he had to wonder if these dreams actually meant anything. What it could mean he had no idea. His eyes narrowed and he shook his head. He valued the truth, and the truth came from facts not conjectured from dreams.

With that in mind he got dressed, leaving the cloak behind, and went down to the kitchen in search of a tall glass of sake.


	2. The Lady and the Otter

**Author's Note:** All I can say is wow, this story only had one chapter and people have already wanted alerts and reviewed. It really inspires me to write more and update sooner knowing you guys are waiting, which is exhilarating and slightly stressful haha. Alright I lied I can say/ write more. Thank you all so much! I hope this story lives up to your expectations. Of course I don't own any Naruto characters.

**The Lady and the Otter**

On a sandy beach, a woman sat with eyes closed facing the sea. Her body was relaxed positioned in a traditional meditation pose: legs crossed and arms gently resting upon her knees. The sky began to brighten as the sun made its steady ascent from the horizon. When the woman stirred the sky had changed from a lush lavender to a pale blue with streaks of orange and gold.

The woman got up slowly and took a deep breath of the salty air, savoring the peacefulness of the moment. Barefoot, she walked along the shoreline and glanced back to her favorite spot longingly. She knew that she would come back the next morning, as was her ritual, but knew she had a long day ahead and wished she could stay longer.

The sea air tousled her long fawn colored hair as she made her way back to her home. She pulled her knee-length robe tighter around her to keep the wind from billowing it around her. Although she wore a tank top underneath, the early morning was a little too chilly for her to comfortably sit on the beach.

As she walked, the sunrise lit up a side of her face bringing out the highlights of her orange-brown eyes. The woman realized she had been staring at the sand when she looked up to investigate the sound of laughter coming from further ahead.

Where the sand ended, and the grass began, she saw a gang of children waving and shouting to her.

"There she is! Amaku!"

"Hurry up, Amaku! We've been waiting here forever!" a small boy shouted.

A girl that looked about eleven elbowed him, "Shut up, Tomo. We've only been here like five minutes."

"It sure felt longer than that…" the boy grumbled.

The woman smiled and waved as she made her way closer to the group. "What are you kids doing here? You all know that you're supposed to wait for me at the school, and you're early." Her eyebrow rose slightly, "I thought you remembered what I said about disturbing my meditation?"

All six pairs of eyes went wide and they scrambled to apologize before falling silent. They had worked so hard to get her to give them lessons on Saturday mornings and they didn't want to miss one. The boy named Tomo was the one to finally speak again.

"It wasn't our fault that stupid otter got us all up early and dragged us down here. We all tried telling him it wasn't time, but he just kept nipping our heels. Please don't bail on us; we were supposed to learn about chakra today. Remember?"

The boy had tried to sound defiant but by the end he sounded more pleading. The others nodded in agreement to his words and looked at her with big, baleful eyes.

Amaku gave a soft laugh. "I don't understand why you like me teaching, but I can't argue with so many sad eyes." There was a loud cheer and Amaku continued, "So stupid otter, huh. Where is Hatasu anyway?"

Seeming to answer her question, a large otter came scampering from his hiding place behind the kids. He came to a stop at her feet, wiggling with excitement.

Amaku put her hands on her hips, looking down at the practically bouncing otter. "Hatasu, I told you to get the kids _after_ I got back to the house. You should know the routine by now."

The otter stopped wiggling and had the decency to look a little sheepish. Amaku's eyes softened and she reached into her pajama pants pocket. From there she retrieved a clam. Seeing the shelled morsel Hatasu immediately resumed his wiggling. He chittered as he ran circles around her, showing how much he wanted his treat.

The children laughed at his antics. The fawn-haired woman tossed him the treat which he crunched eagerly, trying to get to the prize within. With that finished, Amaku looked back to the kids.

"Alright, well I'm going to go get things ready. If you still insist on me teaching you guys I expect you all to be waiting at the school like you were supposed to," she looked pointedly to Hatasu, "and you will escort them there, right?"

The otter tittered at her and Amaku knelt down to rub his head briefly. Hatasu chased after the children afterwards, appearing very much like he was trying to herd them.

Amaku watched the odd sight with amusement, finally shaking her head and making her way back to her home.

xXxXxXxXx

Amaku's home resided a short distance from the beach and about a fifteen minute walk from the rest of the village. The village was far enough away to give her some privacy, but close enough that it was no way near to being a hassle to get back and forth.

It wasn't that she had a problem with living closer to them; it was more like they had an issue with her. So many of the locals had lived in there their entire lives, or they had come from similar villages to live with their spouses. Amaku was an outsider to them.

The majority of her life was spent on the road with her parents, never settling in one place for very long. In short, her parents were Roma: gypsies. While many people had negative views of gypsies, Amaku considered herself lucky to be able to see so much of the world. She got to experience all sorts of different things, meet new people and learn about their cultures, and she learned way more than the average person. That was how she made a living now, using the various skills she had learned to help the small fishing village and its visitors.

Her mother was a bit of a holistic healer, focusing on herbology and acupuncture. Naturally, she passed those skills on to her only child and daughter. Pair this knowledge with the knowledge of diseases and medical practices that she picked up in her travels; she became the village's most qualified healer.

She had lived here for two years now, and she still thought the villagers worried that she would steal from them given her gypsy past. Actually she was still surprised that the parents had allowed for their kids to take lessons from her. Those kids had a full schedule with regular school and helping with the families' fishing trade. Perhaps it surprised them that they'd want to sacrifice their small amount of free time to learn from a woman like her. Perhaps the adults learned to trust her a little more at seeing how their children trusted her.

Whatever it was, she remembered how reluctant she had been when one of the kids first brought up the idea of her teaching them. Amaku really didn't want to test their parent's tolerance and the best way to avoid that was to not teach them anything. The kids were persistent though, and Amaku finally gave in but with conditions.

First: they had to have full consent from their parents. Second: they only met on arranged days when they had completed all other obligations: family and school came first. Third: Hatasu, had to escort them to and from their lessons. It wasn't that she was really worried about something bad happening, but it was just better to be safe than sorry. Hatasu might seem like a goofball but he would never let anything happen to those kids. The fourth and final condition was if anyone didn't follow those conditions or interrupted her meditation she would cancel at least that day's lesson.

Amaku didn't think the conditions were too strict, and she was a bit of a push-over when it came to cancelling lessons because of an interruption. She was too amazed at their thirst for knowledge to punish them like that.

xXxXxXx

Amaku walked into the house and began to gather the materials she would need for this morning's lessons. She put everything in her pack and set it by the door. Once that was settled, she headed off to her room to get a change of clothes and went into the bathroom to take a quick shower.

She left the bathroom feeling refreshed, her hair a darker brown from it not being completely dry. She went back to the door in a new tank top and cargos, slipped on a pair of sandals, and picked up her pack. She paused trying to remember if she'd gotten everything. Nothing came to mind so she walked out the door, locked it, and started her walk to the schoolhouse where her eager students and their mischievous guardian were waiting for her.

xXxXxXx

Kisame awoke with a start. He remained half raised from his bed looking for some unknown threat. As he became more fully awake he calmed down. The ninja looked at his left hand and saw that his hand was still tightly clenched around the hilt of Samehada. He let out a breath and placed the sword back to where it was.

'It was all a dream' he thought to himself as he rubbed his face with his hands.

Kisame had the same dream as he had been having for the last three nights, but this one was slightly different. In the other dreams, when the red haze had taken over his vision and the village was engulfed in flames, he could hear the cries and screams of people but then he only saw a wall of flames. In his most recent dream, he saw the silhouette of a person amidst the inferno.

The person simply stood there, arms out slightly, and the wind from the flames blowing around them. Among the normal dream feelings of panic and something like insanity, Kisame had the impression that this person was steady, yet unsteady. What had startled the shark ninja was the range of emotions he felt; he didn't know how to interpret them. The dream ended with the scene fading out leaving the silhouetted person. Then as the person faded, caramel eyes remained to glow silently at him until he awoke.

Kisame took a second to process what he had dreamed before checking his alarm clock. It was seven; he had set his alarm for eight. Pein had told them to be gone in the morning, which meant he wanted them out of the base by around nine. Groaning, the shark ninja decided to forgo the hour of sleep and start getting ready to leave. Itachi was normally up by now anyway, so maybe they would be ready early this time.

xXxXxXx

He was right in getting up early. Kisame and his partner were making good time. Itachi was apparently in a good mood because of this, because he agreed to stay the night at a hot spring. To say Kisame was happy would be a bit of an understatement, the blue-skinned ninja was thrilled.

Kisame took a long drink from the sake bottle he had purchased, setting back on the table as he watched the other people mill about. Itachi sat near him, sipping on a cup of green tea like a spoiled sport.

"Are you _sure_ you don't want some of my sake?" Kisame offered for about the tenth time.

"Yes, I am sure." The Uchiha responded for about the same number of times.

"You know it wouldn't kill ya to loosen up a bit."

"Hn, it very well could. Alcohol decreases reaction times and lowers inhibitions."

"What do you think I'm drinking? Putting a little bit in that algae lookin' tea of yours isn't going to put you at any risk. Especially with those eyes of yours"

"Hn" Itachi ended the argument and silently continued to drink his tea.

Kisame shook his head in disappointment and shame to be associated with such a prude. The whole point of staying here, other than visiting the hot spring, was to try to get Itachi to lighten up a bit. As far as Kisame was concerned, he was failing miserably right now, even if Red-eyes did seem content drinking his boring beverage.

At the other end of the bar, a cute blonde sat with a couple of her friends. She kept looking over and seemed quite interested in the Uchiha prude. Kisame smirked, maybe this wouldn't be a total wasted evening yet.

Kisame got up from the table, and told Itachi he was getting another drink. He proceeded to saunter to the other side of the bar.

"Hello, ladies"

The blonde and her friends looked at their new arrival and smiled pleasantly. Under normal circumstances this would have impressed him, but being in public Kisame put up a henge that made him look like an average, though blue-haired, male of his age.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I noticed you checking out my friend over there."

The girls blushed and giggled that they had been caught. Kisame laughed good-naturedly.

"Anyway he wanted to know if he could have the pleasure of buying each of you lovely ladies a drink." He gave them a brilliant smile.

The girls giggled even more and coyly glanced at the raven-haired man. One of the blonde's friends spoke up.

"Sure who doesn't want a free drink from a handsome guy like that, but what's the catch?"

Kisame smiled, "You caught me, missy. I'm going back to my room and he doesn't like to drink alone. So the only catch here is a drink and conversation."

The women looked at each other, the blonde looking like she was about to beg her friend to let her. Finally they grinned and looked to Kisame.

"Great! Just order from the bartender and tell him to put it on his tab. Have a good time ladies." He said with a wink.

Kisame chuckled a little at his cunning as he headed for the exit. At the door he glanced back to see what was going on, the woman were all settled around Itachi talking animatedly. Itachi looked fit to kill a certain member of the Akatsuki.

Back in his room, Kisame wondered what the odds were that his partner would get laid. The blonde certainly seemed a likely candidate, but he had a feeling Itachi had a stick shoved so far up his ass that he wouldn't even notice her. Or if he did notice, flat out reject her. Oh well, at least maybe now Itachi won't be so hasty to decline a real drink knowing what the consequences could be.

'Itachi can't be too mad; I'm just doing this for his own good. Anyway we're making good time, at this pace we should be at the village by tomorrow evening.'

Still laughing a bit, Kisame took a few towels and headed to the hot spring to hang out before Itachi got away from the bar chicks and found him.

xXxXxXx

"Alright, I think that's enough for today. You all did great and we'll meet back here next week to continue learning about chakra. Sound good?"

The kids agreed and started packing up their notes so they could leave. The building they were in was a one room schoolhouse, the kids all were sitting in the front row. Amaku had set up diagrams of chakra pathways on the board. She had been explaining to them what chakra was, where it came from in the body, and all that. Normally this would have been taught to ninjas when they first started school as kids, but civilian children sometimes never learned about it.

One land's culture and ninja village really influenced how much civilians learned. The Land of Fire was known to treat their civilians with respect and on some levels treated them as equals. Other lands like the Land of Water wanted civilians to know nothing about the ninja world and saw them as weak.

"Hatasu?" At the sound of his name, the otter looked up from his bed in the corner of the room at the caramel-eyed woman. "You can take the kids home now. I need to go to the market and get a few things, so I'll meet you at the gate. Ok?"

The otter squeaked his understanding and trotted outside to meet up with his charges.


	3. An Insufferable Flirt

**Author's Note: **…Hello again, It's been a while hasn't it? I am really sorry about the wait, I hadn't intended on it being this long before I updated. When I started this I thought I'd have more free time, but classes and work… Anyway, for the people that reviewed and wanted alerts: Thank you so much. You guys really are the ones that got me back to writing, I felt so loved lol. As a reward for your patience another chapter should be uploaded soon. So hopefully this chapter will hold you over until the next time. Enjoy!

**An Insufferable Flirt**

Once all of her students had left, Amaku gathered her charts and other teaching materials and put them into her bag.

'I don't think those kids will ever cease to amaze me. They absorbed all that information like sponges where it took me a week of lessons learn what they did today.' She chuckled to herself as she started leaving the schoolhouse, 'Then again I wasn't nearly as focused, there were too many interesting things going on.'

Amaku made her way into the heart of the village to where the market was located. She needed to restock her healing supplies, specifically, some of the more rare herbs. She didn't use them that much, but as with all things, she had eventually run out.

She snorted as she thought about it. Out of all the plants in her greenhouse it figured that the expensive ones refused to grow. She had done about everything she could, but nothing worked. Maybe it was something in the air, or maybe they just liked the idea of costing her fortune. Coming to the conclusion that the plants were vain, she approached the first stall to begin her shopping.

"Hello Amaku, are you finding everything alright?"

Amaku dragged herself away from comparing the prices of cloth bandages to look at the woman who had spoken to her. The woman was in her mid-thirties, her mousy brown hair tied back in a messy bun. Her face appeared tired, but her eyes were bright and had kindness in them.

"Oh, hello Rai. Yes, thank you. How have you been?" she smiled at her friend.

The woman smiled back, "I can't complain too much, the family keeps me busy," She paused, her smile wavered slightly and worry tinged her eyes.

"Is something wrong?"

Wringing her hands on her apron she finally spoke, "….Well a few days ago Renji… you know, my husband, cut his foot open when he went dive fishing. I bandaged it up, but I'm worried it might be infected. He claims he's fine, but he can hardly walk. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind taking a look at it?"

"Yeah, no problem. Is he at home now?"

"He should be. He said he was going to repair some fishing gear. Wait a second and I'll walk with you."

Rai went to find her sister to make sure that she could run the shop while she was gone. When they arrived, they found Renji in his shop fixing a hole in one of the fishing nets. Amaku noticed his bandaged foot was swollen and that he had a crutch leaning against the shop table. He looked up when the women walked into the room.

"Hi honey, what's Amaku doing here?" he asked in a deep voice.

Rai sighed, "She's here to look at your foot."

He scowled, "I told you it's fine. There's no need for _her_ to be here."

His wife put her hands on her hips, "And there's no need for you to be rude! You are not fine, you've gotten to the point that you need _that_," she pointed at the crutch, "to get around. Now stop being such a man and let Amaku fix your foot."

At the reprimand, Renji flushed and grumbled, "Fine, but don't expect me to be happy about it."

Amaku had watched this whole scene with some apprehension and relaxed when it hadn't ended in a fight. Renji's behavior was like most of the adults in the village and Amaku accepted that. His wife was one of the few that did trust her, even considering Amaku as a friend. What made Amaku uncomfortable was the thought of being the cause of the couple to argue. Luckily, that hadn't been the case now.

Amaku motioned for Renji to sit and proceeded to remove the bandage from his foot. It was a little swollen and had that pruned, pale look from being wrapped for so long. The wound was about an inch long and wasn't deep enough to need stitches.

"Is it infected?" Rai worriedly asked.

"The wound doesn't have any drainage. I'd say that the swelling is due to how tight the bandage was and from him walking around on it so much."

"Hmph, I told you it's fine." Renji stated.

Amaku looked up at the man, "I'd still like to clean up the wound more to prevent it from getting infected. And I'll give you a salve to put on it to help ease the pain." While the wound wasn't infected, it was still located in a sensitive spot and was obviously causing him discomfort.

With that Amaku cleaned and covered the wound with a fresh bandage, then went to her bag to get the ingredients to make the numbing salve. When it was all said and done Renji thanked her, a bit gruffly, and the women left him to his work.

"Thank you so much, Amaku. I'm sorry about my husband's behavior…it's been a tough week for him."

"It's fine, I understand."

"What do we owe you for your help?"

"Everything I used for the salve I grow at home, so it's free of charge."

Rai wasn't having it, "Of course I owe you something; I wasted your time with my silly worrying." When they got back to the stall, she took a few rolls of bandages, along with some surgical tape, and placed them in a bag. "Here, I saw you looking through them earlier. Now don't argue and just take them."

Amaku grinned and took the bag from the stubborn woman, "You're welcome. And it's never silly to worry about those you care for. You know I'm always here if you need help."

The young woman was able to her shopping without further incident. She arrived at the gate with everything she needed and waited for Hatatsu. Ten minutes later, the otter finally ambled his way up to her and they made their way back home.

xXxXxXxXx

It was almost five in the afternoon when Amaku and her furry companion left the house again to walk back towards the village. The sun still shining brightly and a gentle wind caressed the landscape as they walked. Amaku had an appointment with one of the wealthier men living in the area, Kenta Marimoto. Kenta earned his living by establishing and maintaining trade routes with other villages. Essentially, he acted as a middle man, getting paid to be the communication between the fisherman and sellers of other villages and towns.

In the last week, however, the man had become very ill. Almost to the point of being entirely bed-ridden. Amaku had been sent to treat him and has had to make daily visits, much to her dismay.

As the duo walked closer to their destination Amaku fiddled with the strap on the medical pack at her hip.

"I can't wait until that man is healed." The woman said absently. Hatatsu, who had been occupying his time chasing a butterfly, stopped the chase and looked up at her.

Realizing that her had heard her, she rambled on, "I mean there's nothing really wrong with him…I don't know…He's just got that potential dirty old man vibe."

Hatatsu stopped for a beat, allowing Amaku to walk past him for a step, before he quietly tittered. He scampered in front of the woman and turned around so that he was walking backwards to look at her.

Amaku raised a questioning eyebrow.

Still walking backwards, the otter wiggled like a snake as he mockingly chittered at her. The women's eyes narrowed, "Hatatsu, that's just disturbing. He's old enough to be my father!"

The otter raised his ottery brow as if to say, "So?"

Amaku pinched the bridge of her nose before explaining, "I know some women don't care about age, so long as he has money, but I just think dating a man that could have been my father is a turn off. It doesn't matter how much money or experience he has, I don't find him attractive."

Instead of dropping the issue like a sane creature, Hatatsu just resumed wiggling and chittering. This time to a tune that suspiciously sounded like "Amaku and Kenta sitting in a tree…"

"Really? Should I remind you about _your _lady-otter friend?" Amaku grinned when the otter gave a pouty squeak. "What? I thought she was really cute, I don't know why you ran from her." She teased, "she just wanted to be with you forever."

Hatatsu went back to her side and cuddled next to her leg as they walked and looked up at her.

Amaku laughed, "because I'm the only girl in your life, huh? That's cute."

The woman's friendly grin slowly changed to a devious smirk, "but I'm still not over your little Kenta jokes, so I would run if I were you."

The otter's eyes went wide before he let out a shrill noise and took off.

An impromptu game of tag finally ended when they arrived at Kenta's house. It was probably the largest house in the village, and had a beautiful view of the ocean. The man certainly spent a lot of money maintaining the building's beauty; he had a groundskeeper that kept all the landscaping in shape and a few maids to keep the inside in order. Living in an area like this, being able to employ that many people was impressive.

At the door, Amaku was met by one of these maids. The young woman led the healer back to the patient. They ended up back in his bedroom. The room was large, which could be said for about every room in that house. Windows on one side of the room went from ceiling to floor and looked out to the ocean. The lush drapes where pulled back and light was spilling into the room illuminating everything. The man even had a vanity table in his room. Which Amaku first thought odd that a man needed that much space to put cologne and hair care products. Regardless the room, like the rest of the house, had that cheesy elegance of one trying too hard.

The man was currently lounging on his four-post bed, and was reading a newspaper with the help of a pair of reading glasses. The man was in his forties, his full-head of hair beginning to develop a salt and pepper color. He was slightly overweight, but it matched decently with his build. He was a big guy, the type that just wouldn't look right if he were thin. All-in-all, Amaku couldn't say that he was unattractive looking…just average.

Currently, the only indication that he was ill was how pale he was and the occasional deep cough. After one of his fits, the man looked up and smiled. He put the newspaper down across his lap and set his glasses on the end table.

"Ah, there's my favorite nurse!" The man said jovially. Although the man looked average, Amaku found his personality overbearing. He was bold, energetic and downright obnoxious in Amaku's eyes. It didn't help that she noticed that the man was blatantly checking her out as he spoke with a sleazy smile plastered to his face. The woman's jaw clenched and Hatatsu's muzzle twitched in displeasure.

"Yes, well, you certainly have improved since I first saw you earlier this week."

With a winning grin, he replied, "All thanks to your brilliant skills." It faltered as he fell into another coughing fit.

"I wouldn't start thanking me yet, you're still not fully healed." Remaining professional, she walked over and got the chair from the vanity and brought it over to the bed. She removed the pack from her hip and sat it on the chair and began rummaging through it. Once Kenta had stopped coughing, Amaku set to work and Hatatsu resolved to settle in a corner of the room to watch.

Kenta's illness was from blockages that had developed in his chakra network. Everyone has a chakra network, so anyone could develop a block in chakra flow. This usually happened because, for various reasons, the flow in one part of the body had changed directions or a chakra point was shut off. Civilian medicine used acupuncture to correct this, and acupuncture is what consisted of Kenta's treatment.

His case happened to be slightly unique. His body had developed several blockages, almost as though one had created a domino effect and resulted in more blockages forming. If it was left untreated Amaku was sure the number would increase until his chakra was completely unable to flow, resulting in his death. Luckily, Amaku was able to correct it, using the needles at the correct points to influence the chakra flow and eliminate the process. It was slow work, but Amaku had developed a short-cut that quickened the process. She was able to incorporate healing chakra.

Her travels had given her the chance to meet many ninja, including a few medical ninja. Even though they weren't allowed to teach her everything she wanted, she was fortunate enough to learn some tips and tricks from them. Amaku was able to learn enough to train on her own to become proficient in wielding chakra. It had been a lot of hard work trying to develop her skills without a mentor, but she had done it.

The ninja were able to help her by observing when they spared and she was told her that her chakra wasn't like a classically trained ninja's. Normally when a ninja used chakra, the path of the energy would be an even flow unless they focused on manipulating it. Amaku's chakra was released in waves and would pulse like a heartbeat. It was this chakra that allowed her to hasten her acupuncture procedure; it helped to get rid of the blockages by gently loosening them instead of trying to force them with a continuous flow.

Unfortunately she was rarely able to wield her chakra because of the villagers. Why? Because as much as the villagers disliked outsiders, they trusted ninja even less.

Again it was a cultural thing, where ninja viewed citizens as weak and wanted them without knowledge of the ninja world, and so the civilians grew to believe that all ninja were untrustworthy, dangerous, and arrogant. If Amaku openly used her chakra she would have been deemed a ninja. She never would have been allowed to make her home there and she certainly would not have been allowed to teach either.

In cases like Kenta's, however, Amaku was very careful about her chakra use. She only used it this time because she didn't want to keep showing up at his house to treat him. He made a regular habit of being flirty with her, and she simply was not interested. So she used her chakra to heal him faster, being careful to only channel the chakra through the needles as she placed them. Sometimes she thought it was silly to hide her chakra like this, a normal person would only recognize her abilities if she started using hand signs, but she would always remind herself that it's better to be safe than sorry.

An hour and a half had passed before she stopped for the day. This time Kenta's chakra was flowing normally again.

Amaku began to remove the needles pleased with her work, "There, that should be the last treatment you'll need. You should be as right as rain now"

Once the last needle was removed, Kenta sat up and stretched his muscles. "I feel like a million bucks! You sure can work wonders on a man," he said with a wink.

Amaku bit the inside of her cheek and slightly clenched her fists; 'I will not hit him, I will not hit him, I _will_ _not_ hit him...' before replying with a tight smile, "I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Oh, I am." He looked at her with baleful eyes, "This won't be the last time I see you though, will it?"

'Unfortunately,' "No, I'll be back tomorrow for a follow up just to make sure everything is still alright."

Kenta stood up and put his shirt back on, "Wonderful!" He opened his end table drawer and pulled out his wallet to pay her for the day.

After handing her the money, Amaku noticed that dirty-old-man-look in his eye "Please allow me to escort you to the door…"

He was just about to put his hand on her middle back when something hit his leg. He looked down to see Hatatsu between him and his target. He could have sworn the otter was glaring at him, Amaku giggled silently. With good cheer she said:

"Oh, that's alright. We know where the door is and you need your rest. Don't worry about it"

Kenta was still trying to figure out if an otter was really glaring at him, but he distractedly looked up to Amaku to respond, "…Right, well I'll see you tomorrow then, my dear."

When they left, Amaku looked at Hatatsu and smirked, "You really are awful…but thank you."

Hatatsu just made a chirp-like noise and bumped his head against her leg affectionately. The two walked in companionable silence back home as the sun began its descent across the horizon.

**Another Note:** Hi again! For all you Kisame fans I'm sorry I didn't write him in this chapter *braces self for fan anger* This is to just even out the time that's passed, Kisame's day was over is the last chapter and now Amaku's day finishes here. I try to write give readers opportunities to pick up their own observation, but if my writing gets confusing please let me know. As much as I'm writing this for myself, I want other people to enjoy reading it too. Most importantly Kisame will be in the next chapter, I swear! *crosses heart and hopes to die*


	4. A Sailor's Luck: Part One

**Author's Note:** Hey guys! Sorry about the delay again, I've been distracted with idiotic things. This chapter is definitely the longest I've ever written I think, and it will be in two parts *gasp* So I hope you all like it! I really had fun writing this one and put a lot of work into it. As always, Thanks so much for the reviews and your support of Hatatsu, glad to know I did some justice to the adorableness of otters lol

**A Sailor's Luck: Part One**

It was early morning as two Akatsuki made their way further into the Land of Rivers. Kisame could see the sun shining through the leaves of the dense forest but it had only just begun to dispel the previous night's chill air. A small breeze blew past the man, the cool air whipping the last remnants of sleep from his eyes. More alert, Kisame lengthened his stride to walk in line with his partner. He glanced sideways at the shorter man and smirked as he recalled last night's events.

_A clothed Kisame was strolling down the hallway to his room, scrubbing the rest of the water from his hair with a towel. The steamy waters of the hot spring had done Kisame a world of good, melting away the tension of previous missions. Sure, their last mission had been simple enough, but they had been on a tight schedule and spent their nights making camp outside. There would have been no end to Kakazu's bitching if he found out that Kisame and Itachi had wasted money and time to stay somewhere decent…and there was the small detail of them carrying along a man's head in a bag on the way back. Even Itachi's charm would have had a difficult time of explaining the bloody bag to the front desk. Thinking of the sharingan user, Kisame was surprised that he hadn't seen Itachi after leaving him in the bar to fend for himself with a group of giggling civilian women. _

_Shrugging, he figured the reclusive man had spent his time sulking in their room. He arrived at the right door and dug through his pants pocket for the key. The swordsman frowned when he couldn't sense the familiar chakra and when he opened the door he blinked as he took in the sight of an empty room and open bathroom door._

'_Well, well. Maybe the blonde did get our boy after all,' an amused hum escaping his throat at the thought._

_Kisame went to the dresser to where his things were located, searching for his sword cleaning kit. Upon finding it, he sat on the edge of his mattress with one leg under him and pulled Samehada off his shoulders and onto his lap. He had finished unwrapping the last of the bandage when he sensed Itachi at the door. He glanced at the spot from the corner of his eye, resolving to keep his face emotionless. _

_The swordsman didn't know what to expect when Itachi walked into the door, but he was positive that whatever happened it would be funny as hell. And when the Uchiha finally walked in, the shark-man was not disappointed. _

_Nothing appeared off about the man at first glance, but Kisame knew he was pissed. Years of working with the man had given Kisame the opportunity to catalog the Uchiha's mannerisms. They were slight, but Kisame noticed Itachi's stiffer gait and a clenched jaw. It didn't take a keen eye, however, to notice the ghost of a lipstick mark that could be spotted on Itachi's right cheek. _

_Seeing the mark, Kisame's mind was rolling in laughter while on the outside only a twitch of his lips revealed his amusement. He returned his attention to Samehada and a moment later calmly spoke, "Didn't think you'd be out so late….did you have fun?"_

_Itachi went to his side of the room to ruffle through his pack and seemed not to have heard his partner. The lip-twitch tugged harder on Kisame's face before he spoke again._

"_I'll admit, I'm a bit surprised that you didn't leave as soon as I did. Can't blame you though, those girls sure were cute, eh?"_

_Silence._

_The shark had paused in his cleaning and bit on his cheek to contain himself, "Hm… I see. Not the kiss and tell type." His voice began to betray his laughter as he tried to sound hurt, "Here I was your wingman, and I don't even get to know if I did a good job?"_

_Not so much as a "Hn" was uttered by the sharingan user as he walked past Kisame and towards the room's bathroom._

_The grin could no longer being contained, flooding the shark man's face, "Aw, don't tell me you broke the girls' hearts. It might just break mine." Itachi had entered the bathroom and Kisame chuckled as the door loudly slammed shut._

_The rest of the evening had been spent in a similar fashion with Itachi being more silent than anyone thought possible. It seemed to be an unofficial mission for the Kisame to get Itachi to loosen up and have some fun. He may have failed again, but he was victorious in getting the man to show some form of emotion. Kisame finished cleaning his sword and when he was ready to go to sleep he knew Itachi was planning his revenge. What it was he surely didn't know, but the man kept Samehada a little closer just in case his angry roommate thought of exacting his revenge as he slept._

The night passed peacefully and, for the first time in days, Kisame recalled that he hadn't dreamt at all. He supposed it was from being somewhat more alert all through the night. Either way, the duo had gotten an early start and expected to arrive at their destination before the sun set that day.

They continued forward at a steady pace, Kisame chuckled again at the memory of seeing lipstick on Itachi's face. He still didn't know what exactly happened. If he were a betting man, Kisame would have said that Itachi did what he usually does in that situation: be as polite as possible while leaving as quickly as possible. The poor girl was probably just too dense to notice his disinterest, and planted the kiss on him before he got the chance to escape. Kisame looked through the corner of his eye at his partner, as if his answer could be found there. A second later the man gave a small snort, regardless of what had happened, this would definitely be a story for the guys back at base.

The two Akatsuki were about a half hour from the village when Itachi stopped. Kisame knew his partner wanted to go over their strategy again and turned to face the man. After checking for any signs of someone being nearby, white irises met with black ones as Kisame waited for Itachi to speak.

"We are to retrieve a set of River documents from the man, Kenta Marimoto. These documents contain blueprints and financial information about local villages. From Zetsu's reconnaissance, these documents are located in the library of the target's home."

"Yeah, yeah. You'll get the documents and I'll be standing watch outside. The man said impatiently. Normally Kisame was patient throughout this whole spiel, but the telltale salt smell of the ocean was making him antsy.

Kisame took a calming breath and crossed his arms, "What I don't get is why Pein wants such trivial information. The only villages in this area are small and I seriously doubt any of the people there have ever set foot outside of their village."

"You know as well as I do that for Pein to continue his plans he needs to keep surveillance on the surrounding Lands."

"So he's just expanding his Big Brother status, huh?"

Itachi gave him a pointed look to confirm the statement.

'I was hoping that he had gotten past the whole 'I'm God' thing.' Kisame thought before he brought up another point, "We didn't discuss what will happen after we get these papers. We're ahead of schedule, are we gonna stick around somewhere nearby or get the hell out of Dodge as usual?" Kisame genuinely wanted to stay somewhere nearby, he hadn't seen the ocean in months and he could almost pretend that he was on vacation.

"It would be wise to take what we need and leave. Zetsu may have said that there are no ninja in the area, but small villages remember strangers. The more time we spend there the more people will notice." Itachi answered dully.

Kisame nodded curtly. He had expected that answer, though it didn't mean he was any less disappointed by it, so much for his mini-vacation. The man uncrossed his arms, signaling that he was done asking questions and was ready to leave.

Itachi didn't move from his spot, continuing to look at his partner. The shark-man took the hit and made a hand sign. A cloud of smoke appeared, obscuring the ninja for a few seconds. When the smoke cleared, another man seemed to have replaced him. Kisame had transformed his features back to when he was in the bar. Gone were the blue skin, gills, and white eyes. Instead they were replaced with smooth, pale skin and common place brown eyes. His jaw was less angular but still retained its masculinity. He also rid his cloak of its red clouds. The only thing that Kisame had not changed was his blue hair and his height.

Seemingly content with the level of transformation, Itachi copied the action to remove the conspicuous clouds from his cloak as well. This being completed he turned in the direction of the village. Kisame rolled Samehada to a more comfortable position along his shoulders and both men promptly set off.

xXxXxXxXx

Light had begun to peep through the curtains of her bedroom when Amaku opened her eyes. She laid there in comfortable silence before slowly sitting up, popping the air out of her joints as she stretched. She noticed that Hatatsu was still curled up on his bed on the floor sound asleep, the otter's body rising and falling in time with his steady breathing. Not wanting to wake him up, Amaku quietly padded out of the room to complete her morning routine.

Still in her pajamas, the woman went outside after breakfast not yet fully awakened. A mug of hot chocolate in her hand, she made her way to her favorite meditation spot and sat in the sand. She sighed and sipped on her drink as she thought about her tasks for the day. There wasn't much that she had to work on for once. She did have to return to the village for that checkup on Kenta, which she really was not excited about. The man didn't understand how annoying he was. On the bright side, there was a very good chance that she wouldn't see him again after today. Amaku tore her gaze from the depths of her chocolaty drink to look at the ocean.

Since the sun was to her back, Amaku could view the scene unhindered. The ocean happily glittered as it reflected the sun's light. A smattering of clouds lay across the sky, the puffs of condensed water fluffy without a hint of grey in them. Today seemed like it was going to be another pretty day.

Amaku tilted her head to the side as she watched the clouds. The sky was an array of oranges and golds that held testament to the sun rising. The clouds, however, were a delicate shade of red. It made for a gorgeous morning, although Amaku couldn't help but remember part of an old saying her father told her when she was little.

'Red in the morning, sailors' warning'

The woman's eyebrows furrowed. She hadn't thought about that saying in a long time. When she first heard it, she recalled it had been a similar morning to this one.

"_Daddy! Aren't the clouds pretty?" A young girl said as she tugged on her father's shirt and pointed up to the sky._

_The bearded man looked up to where the girl pointed, "It sure is, but I'll bet ya they won't stay pretty for very long."_

_The girl looked up at her father with confused eyes, "What do you mean?"_

_The man looked down at the girl and chuckled, "Red in the morning, sailors' warning. Red at night, sailors' delight." The girl looked even more confused, so he continued, "It's an old saying that people used to go by. Sailors would avoid going out to sea when the clouds were red in the morning, believing that a storm would hit. But if there was a red sunset, it was believed that there would be calm seas and good luck for the next day."_

_The girl frowned as she processed what he said and then looked back up at the clouds, "But it doesn't look like it's going to rain…"_

_The man smiled as his daughter, "True, it doesn't. But things are never always as they seem. You wait, it'll rain."_

She had to have been about six at the time and she couldn't recall when she had thought of it since then. Amaku did remember how surprised she was when her father turned out to be right, it stormed something fierce that evening.

Perhaps thinking of it today meant something?

Well whatever it was, or wasn't, she wouldn't know until that something happened.

It was at that moment, Amaku heard something coming towards her. The woman turned her head and brushed her fawn-colored hair behind her ear to see that it was Hatatsu.

The otter approached her and rubbed his head on her shoulder.

"Good morning. You slept well I see?"

The otter trilled an affirmative and poked her bare arm with his nose.

Amaku flinched, "Ah, that's cold!" Hatatsu repeated the action, causing the woman to grumble, "Alright, I get it. I'll get up…"

Having won, Hatatsu hopped in place as his companion grudgingly stood up. "You know, I would think a capable otter like you would be able to hunt for his breakfast instead of relying on me to make it."

Choosing to ignore her statement, the otter briefly looked at her and took off back to the house.

Amaku snorted, amused. "Lazy brat."

xXxXxXxXx

Amaku's day went by rather peacefully. Her students weren't able to stop by and pester her: they were all in school or working with their families. None of the villagers came by needing medical assistance. It was one of those rare days where she got to train and catch up on housework uninterrupted. When it was time to go to Kenta's, she and Hatatsu were in high spirits.

Kenta's home was on the other side of the village, so the shortest path for the duo to travel was through the market place. She was surprised to see that the market was pretty busy. Walking along the edge of the activity, Amaku slowed her pace to observe. She caught something white in her peripheral vision and stopped. Two men standing by one of the merchant's tents were the source of what had caught her eye. The taller man had a giant object on his back. It looked like a sword, but it wasn't like any sword she had ever seen. Including the handle, she guessed it was almost as long as she was tall and it was wrapped in gauze.

Finding the object strange, Amaku looked more closely at the two men who had conveniently turned around so she could see them clearly. Her eyes were drawn to their attire first: black cloaks with red clouds on them. Her eyes furrowed as she frowned. For some reason, Amaku felt a tug in the back of her mind telling her that this held some significance. Not thinking of what the significance was she moved her attention to their faces. The shorter man had black hair that was tied back and he had a line that went along each side of his nose. The one with the sword, while good looking, would have been relatively forgettable if it hadn't been for his hair. Amaku repressed a very unladylike snort when she noticed the blue color.

'They definitely are not from around here and I know I've never seen them before… I'd remember seeing men like that."

She was drawn from her reverie when she realized that Hatatsu was staring up at her curiously. She continued walking, but she kept an eye on the newcomers. She had a feeling that something was not right about them or their strangely decorated cloaks. Amaku knew that any ninja worth their salt would sense her chakra, but they wouldn't be able to track it back to her due to how she wielded it. So, as they were about to walk past them, Amaku decided to test their chakra. She flared her fingers out and, using her chakra like sonar, released a small wave of chakra towards them.

They had walked past each other by the time the jutsu was completed. Amaku's eyes widened. Not all of her chakra came back. She normally lost some of it, because of the nature of the jutsu, energy transfer, and so on, but in this case hardly any of her chakra came back to her ….it had just disappeared.

Sadly, the chakra that did come back to her held little useful information, and she was smart enough not to look back to see if they had noticed. If she had looked back, however, she would have seen the blue haired man stop and reach back to touch the mysterious sword-thing on his back. That man curiously looked around and through the crowd, the only thing strange was an otter accompanying one of the villagers.

They arrived at the house where another maid showed them in. Amaku stepped inside gingerly. She really hoped they would be meeting the man somewhere other than in his bedroom; it always seemed to level up the awkwardness. She was relieved when the maid started to walk in the other direction. Amaku walked after the young woman, Hatatsu ambling along by her side, to the back of the house to an open patio. The healer was told to wait there while she retrieved Mr. Marimoto.

Amaku set her medical pack on a coffee table and took a look around. Her surroundings reminded her of a tropical getaway. The patio was minimally obscured with palm trees and other flora to act as a frame for a beautiful distant view of the ocean. If a certain man didn't inhabit the house, she'd have to say that she would love to live there. The woman was distracted from her daydreaming when she heard a small growl.

She looked to see what was bothering Hatatsu and saw Kenta slide the patio door open.

The man gave her a smile that gave Amaku that special vomit feeling, "Ah, I was wondering when you were going to come over." She got the irritating notion that he emphasized the word "come."

"Hmm, well I'm here now. How are you feeling today, Mr. Marimoto."

"I'm feeling absolutely wonderful, dear. And how many times do I have to tell you, call me Kenta. Mr. Marimoto sounds so much less…" he twirled his hand as if searching for the right word, gazing at her when he did, "intimate."

Amaku's face tightened and she subconsciously clenched her fists. Hatatsu appeared right next to her leg, hoping his presence would help pacify her. She noticed and gave a slight stiff nod.

'He is so _fucking_ lucky right now.' The woman angrily thought. "Right. I'm going to need you to do a few simple exercises so I can gauge how your chakra pathways are functioning."

The whole process took around half an hour. It took a lot of patience on Amaku's part; he was really trying his luck. She had him stretch his shoulder and hand. What she was looking for was his range and ease of motion, as he had the most chakra clots there. She noticed however that he finished the exercise with an exaggerated flex, as if to show off what little muscle he had. Amaku had ignored it thinking she was only imagining it. She made him walk around the patio for a few minutes, wanting to see what his change in blood pressure was. Kenta didn't walk, he sauntered. All the while, he never shut up, asking her what she was looking for and, "if she liked what she saw." She had to hand it to him though; he was slick about his behavior. He certainly knew where the line was and he tread all over it.

Amaku glanced over her notes and, with as much cheer as she could muster, said, "Everything appears to be in working order, you won't be needing anymore treatments. So you're good to go." The woman stood up and put her notes back in her pack, relieved that she was finally done with this nonsense. She turned her head to Hatatsu to let him know she was ready to leave.

Kenta got up from his seated position and fished in his pocket for his wallet. He counted out the bills and handed it to her. She gave him a small smile in thanks and went to take the money from his hand, but met resistance when he didn't let go. Amaku's orange-brown eyes met his dull muddy ones.

"I know you said this is what I owe you, but I can't help feeling that this isn't payment enough." He released his hold, and Amaku busied herself with putting it in her pocket. He sounded so kind and honest; she was beginning to feel bad.

She looked up at him and spoke with a softer tone, "It's truly not that big of a deal, I'm just…"

"I know! Let me take you out!"

Amaku jumped a bit at the interruption and any guilt she felt shattered like a wineglass in an opera house.

"Umm…What?"

Kenta enthusiastically explained, "Yeah! Me, you. A real night on the town. I'm not your patient anymore, so there's no harm there, right?"

Amaku was still shocked. "…I suppose."

"See, no problems! Just an attractive girl going out with the local stud." He flashed her what he thought was a winning smile, "So what do ya say, doll?"

Amaku looked to Hatatsu to make sure she wasn't hallucinating this ridiculous event. The otter gave her a sympathetic look and Amaku sighed in resignation, returning her attention back to the man awaiting a response.

"I'm flattered, really I am, but…."

At that inopportune moment, one of the maids burst through the door. She looked like she had been running frantically to find them, her hair out of place and breathing heavy. Tears stained the poor girl's face and she wrung her hands as she stood in front of them.

"Mr. Marimoto, Haru's been hurt! Someone got into the library… and he tried to stop him and…and…" Her distress getting the best of her she broke off in a wail. Kenta quickly went to her side to calm her.

When she appeared like she could form a logical sentence, Kenta spoke, "Take me to Haru so I can find the scoundrel who dared to break into my home." As they were leaving, Kenta looked back to the other woman, "Amaku, darling, you stay here, I'll take care of this"

The healer rolled her eyes while she buckled her medical pack securely onto her hip. "Like hell we're staying here. Come on, Hatatsu."

They went into the building, quickly retracing their steps to get back to the front of the house. Amaku didn't know who Kenta was kidding; any person in their right mind wouldn't stick around long enough for the show off to gather clues. She had a sneaking suspicion about who the thief was and her best course of action was to try and follow them, and that's what she fully intended to do. She didn't like Kenta but, as far as Amaku was concerned, these strange men may have plans to hurt the village. She would be damned if she let anyone get away with messing with her home and the people she cared about.

She barreled out the door with Hatatsu close behind. Finally skidding to a stop in the middle of the yard, her senses were on high alert for anything out of place. She held out a hand and let her chakra sonar scan the area for other signatures.

Just as she noticed a blank spot in the feedback, a man jumped down from a tree about 10 yards from her.

The girl scowled, "I knew it."

xXxXxXxXx

Kisame was standing on a high branch that overlooked the target's house, standing guard for Itachi. The man crossed his arms and leaned against the tree, thinking about what happened at the market. Samehada had tasted chakra. Obviously that meant that there was a shinobi nearby, but Zetsu had told them that there were no ninja in the village. It was troubling, this could put a serious dent in their (Itachi's) plan to stay unnoticed. They hadn't been confronted, but that didn't mean shit. Part of him embraced the idea of having an enemy to toy with and another knew that this would get Itachi's knickers in a twist. When he told Uchiha, he got the expected reaction: the need to be even more cautious. So Kisame played along as always, and they hadn't noticed the signature since.

Letting his shoulders relax a bit, his eyes wandered to take in his surroundings. From his vantage point he could see everything he needed to, including over the top of the house. There he could see the expanse of glittering blue that was the ocean. He gazed wistfully at it, she called out to him the ocean did, beckoning for him to come closer. He had been teased by her tingly perfume since that morning, and now Kisame could see her. He could even hear the waves colliding with the shore, sounding sweeter than a siren's song. What he'd give to be closer.

Kisame snapped back to reality and returned his attention back to the mission, jaw clenched in disgust. He was pining after the ocean like some lovesick teenager. Damn, if any of the guys back at base knew what he just thought… Anyway, this wasn't like him. Sure he missed being near that environment, but he had never before let it distract him from a mission. Keeping his focus on the house, he thought it over. He had been thinking about it a lot lately. Maybe he really did need a vacation. The organization was busy this year and he hadn't been able to take time off. Yes, the Akatsuki allotted vacation days. Pein believed it was good for moral, or something of that nature. Kisame resolved to have a talk with Pein about his vacation when they got back, his previous thoughts truly disturbed him and he didn't want it happening again.

A few minutes of nothing and Itachi appeared on the branch next to Kisame.

"Let's go."

Kisame nodded at his partner and noticed Itachi was almost scowling. That wasn't good.

"What's going on? You got the documents, don't you?"

"Yes. Now let's go."

Kisame's head turned quickly to the house, there was shrieking going on near the back of the house. He questioningly looked back at Itachi. This time the man did scowl. Somehow the Uchiha had been spotted. Itachi never got caught; no wonder he was in such a rush to leave.

Kisame smirked and cracked his neck with a large hand, "Go ahead, I'll take care of this."

Itachi nodded and jumped away, "Don't make a mess."

A quizzical expression graced the swordsman's blue face. 'Was that a joke?' Shrugging it off, he turned his attention back to the house to await his opponent.

A minute later, he watched as two beings ran out of the building and, on reflex, reached for his sword. He cocked his head as he recognized them, it was that woman and otter from the market earlier. The otter was by her side, fur on his neck straight up. He hadn't really gotten a good look at the woman. Of course she was shorter than him; she probably didn't even reach up to his shoulder. She was attractive though, long light brown hair that looked good with her powder blue t-shirt and dark gray cargos. 'Not the only thing that looks good with her outfit,' he smirked, as his eyes roamed her curves. The woman raised her hand in front of her and Samehada twitched on his shoulders, alerting Kisame that she was the shinobi from the market. The smirk on his face grew, 'This should be interesting.' He jumped down from his perch to confront the duo.

When he landed, Kisame removed Samehada from her holster and lazily rested it on his shoulder.

The woman scowled, her eyes focused on a red cloud, "I knew it."

Kisame cocked his head again, feigning innocence, "Oh? Do you know me?"

"You're the man from the market. I knew there was something off about you and your friend. I just didn't realize you were Akatsuki."

"Hmm, I'd be surprised that you would know Akatsuki, but seeing that you're a kunoichi, I'm not in the least."

The woman moved a hand to her pouch and was about to say something when there was a commotion at the house.

A middle-age man appeared at the door with what looked like to be a maid. The man seemed to be positively flabbergasted by what he was seeing.

"Amaku! What are you doing? I told you I would handle this!"

Kisame didn't miss how the woman, Amaku, fisted her hands. She held a finger to Kisame and gave him a mock smile, "Pardon me for a moment." The man blinked, not knowing if this was amusing or incredibly stupid.

"Clearly you took too long, _Kenta_. Now go back in the house and stay out of this." She spat.

Kenta tried to reason with her, "This isn't a fight for a woman like you…"

She interrupted him, "For a woman like me?" She huffed at the idea. Without returning her gaze to the one called Kenta, she held out her hand so he could see it. A blue-green aura glowed around her hand. She couldn't see but Kenta's jaw dropped as he realized her power.

"Hatatsu," The now ferocious otter, parted some of his attention off Kisame to the woman, "Get those two back in the house and keep them there." The otter shot one last snarl at the swordsman, before he set about his task.

Amaku then looked at Kisame and saucily stated, "I haven't had a good fight in a while."

"Well, looky here. The little lady's a feisty one." Kisame chuckled, "You're lucky I let you get away with that stunt."

"I thought you would understand, they would just get in the way."

"Ah, how considerate of you. But you've picked the wrong fight, I'd give up now if I were you, Bambi."

Amaku looked unimpressed by his words, "I don't know what you or you pal want with a stack of dusty old papers, but no one fucks with my village and gets away with it."

She tensed as she watched as Kisame raised a hand sign. Smoke appeared as Kisame released the henge to show the women his true appearance. The whole point of this charade was to give Itachi time to distance himself from the village, if he could intimidate this woman out of a fight the less chance there would be that they would try to get the documents back. As the smoke cleared, he gave the woman a grin that displayed his pointed teeth.

Amaku knew what this man was up to and she wasn't falling for it. Instead she got what she needed from her pouch and looked the man in the eyes.

"I always thought blue hair on a pasty-white guy looked stupid."

Kisame was a little taken aback by her response. He didn't have time to dwell on it though, because after she said this, a shower of senbon was upon him. What was left of his grin vanished as he was forced to dodge the attack. He then ran at her, Samehada in position so he could rip her to shreds.

'Can't say I didn't warn her.'

He swung the sword at her, but she jumped out of the way, throwing more senbon at her attacker. Some of the needles had a purple hue, Kisame recognized this: they were poison dipped. This in mind he took care to completely avoid each of her attacks.

"It'll take a lot more than needles to win against me." He snarled as he followed her.

Kisame maneuvered Amaku so that they were fighting at close range, easily countering her movements with water clones to prevent her escape. It was only a matter of time before Samehada stole enough of her chakra to slow her down until she could no longer avoid being shredded.

The woman had been reduced to using her senbon to scratch rather than throw. The swordsman laughed as his face away from her latest attack; she seemed to be out of the poison needles. Amaku scowled and dodged one of his own attacks,

He knew he had an evil gleam in his eye, he knew he would be the victor. He looked her in the eyes, expecting to see an overwhelmed frustration. Instead, there was more of a calculating determination.

Immediately he was set on guard, she was no longer trying to step back from him. As they fought, he noticed that she was steadily decreasing the range they were fighting in. Kisame growled at this revelation, being forced backwards to maintain a range for Samehada to effective. He swiped downwards with his sword, as if to cut her in half diagonally then quickly back out that would have knocked her off her feet. It was brilliantly executed, but Amaku jumped back to avoid the initial slice and leaped forward and over the blade in the second cut.

The swordsman cursed, she was now too close. Changing tactics he slung Samehada onto his back, resorting to fight with taijutsu. He still greatly outmatched the woman, even if she was able to avoid him, she didn't have his stamina. Itachi should have distanced himself enough by now, it was time to end this.

Amaku did her best to block his kicks and punches, but she was slowing down. Kisame could smell the lack of adrenaline and could see that her chakra loss was taking its toll. It was a shame really; he still didn't even know which village she was loyal to, not that it mattered. The man was starting to get in more of his punches and she seemed to only be capable of dodging enough to lessen the blows. His last kick got her soundly in the gut with his shin.

The woman flew backwards and landed onto the Earth with a hard thud. He watched as the battered woman struggled to get up. One hand was clutching where the hit landed, the other was supporting her in a seated position. The woman was practically wheezing and she couldn't get her legs to cooperate enough to stand. Kisame saw that her spirit certainly wasn't broken, those orange-brown eyes glared at him for all she was worth. He saw all this as he slowly made his approach, removing Samehada from his spot on his shoulders again.

"I warned you, I gave you a choice. Now you reap what you sow."

He brought Samehada down to shave her to ribbons. For Amaku it was almost like watching it in slow motion, her eyes grew wide. In the next second, her eyes softened and dulled as she accepted her fate and images of her family, friends, and Hatatsu flooded her mind.

Kisame saw this change, just as he saw it on countless others. That look that he always destroyed soon after. Just as Samehada was about to hit her, he felt an intense pain shoot up from his palm. His hand flew away from the source, and he dropped Samehada. He saw the blood streaming from his hand and looked to his sword for an explanation. The sword's hilt was covered in spikes.

Adrenaline coursed through Amaku seeing this, and she wasted no time in using his distraction to her benefit. As quickly and with as much force as she could muster, she sent two more sets of five senbon at the man. They were able to pierce through the cloak and embed in the standing man's abdomen. He was frozen in place.

"I can't move…" He growled, "what did you do?" Kisame was astonished at the turn of events. Samehada had betrayed him and now this?

Amaku rose on unsteady feet and brushed her fawn-colored hair out of her sweat and dirt streaked face. She lowly laughed.

"It doesn't matter how much chakra someone has, hit the right points and it can paralyze you just as well as damage to your spinal cord can." She held his stare as she said, "And now I can put you out of commission for good."

Kisame watched her make a few shaky hand signs and those same hands began to glow with the same blue as before. She stepped forward, her palms raised and lingering a few inches from the paralyzing needles. Amaku then shoved waves of her chakra into the embedded senbon, causing the pins to glow violently. The only true indication of something affecting the swordsmen were his roars of agony that reverberated through the forest before he finally collapsed.

xXxXxXxXx

**Another Note:** I'm terribly sorry! I would have made this chapter longer to keep it from ending like this, but it's already 14 pages, so that's being kicked to Part Two. So if you don't already hate me for hurting Kisame (I really did hate doing that to him, he's such a great character), I'm going to warn you all right now that I don't know when the next chapter will be out. I'm hoping to get it out before the end of Christmas break though. On the bright side, I've already got tons of notes for the next chapter and I've got a Kisame one-shot that I'm pondering on. Hopefully this chapter wasn't a total mess, and I'd love to know your thoughts on it (what you like, dislike, etc) so please review, it'll really help me improve I think.


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